Many years ago we purchased a series of Time-Life cookbooks featuring recipes from countries world wide. The books have long disappeared, but I remember cooking a ground chicken recipe from Russia.

The tour company we used for a recent trip to St. Petersburg always visits a local family for a home cooked meal. Our hostess cooked ground chicken patties that made me recall the old cookbook recipe. When I got home, I searched the web, experimented, and came up with my own version.

First a word of caution: You will be mixing raw chicken, so make sure you always wash hands and utensils well after handling.

The Ingredients: (yields 6 patties)

1 lb. of ground chicken breast

2 slices of bakery type bread (about 75 gram or 3 oz.) broken up as small as possible (A food processor works nicely for this.)

1 large egg

3 Tb butter (slice into 5 pieces and cut into little squares)

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 sprigs of fresh dill tops chopped (optional)

If you grind your own chicken: 1/4 cup milk.

Dry bread crumbs

The Mixing:

Store bought ground chicken is loaded with water. Pour this off before putting the chicken into a mixing bowl. (If you
have ground your own chicken, it will not be as moist, so you will need to soak the bread in the milk first.)

–Press down the balls to form patties and sprinkle with dry bread crumbs. Turn them over with a spatula and add more crumbs if needed , so that both sides are completely coated.

The Cooking:

In a large frying pan (you might have to do this in two batches) melt 2 TB of butter plus 2 TB of cooking oil.Over medium heat cook the patties until light brown on both sides. Put heat on low and cover the pan. Turn the patties occasionally until they are golden brown. The patties should be done in 8-10 minutes. Check to make sure no pink remains.

Sauce: The Russian woman we visited did not have a sauce, but melted butter or a cream sauce works nicely.